CARCASS’s JEFF WALKER Wasn’t Surprised By Postponement Of Band’s Tour With ARCH ENEMY And BEHEMOTH

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

CARCASS frontman Jeff Walker has told Finland's Chaoszine that the postponement of the band's fall 2021 "The European Siege" tour with ARCH ENEMY and BEHEMOTH didn't come as much of a shock to him. "It was not a setback at all," he said. "When we agreed to do the tour [in 2020], I saw this happening; it was no big surprise to me. It's a relief in a way because they left it so late to announce that the tour wasn't gonna happen. There were so many hurdles and obstacles I could see that was gonna be thrown up. Between COVID and Brexit, it was gonna be very difficult to tour this [last] year in September. I think it was a good thing to postpone it, to give more time. Not [just] because of the whole shit, but the impact that Brexit is gonna have on bands coming to the U.K. and U.K. bands touring the EU." The rescheduled "The European Siege" tour dates will now kick off on September 27 in Dublin, Ireland and conclude on November 6 in Oslo, Norway. Opening the proceedings every night will be Portland, Oregon's gothic metal newcomers UNTO OTHERS (formerly known as IDLE HANDS). CARCASS's latest album "Torn Arteries", was released in September via Nuclear Blast Records. Drummer Daniel Wilding did session work in Sweden at Studio Gröndahl with David Castillo while guitars were recorded at The Stationhouse with James Atkinson in Leeds, England. Eventually needing some form of residential location to finalize vocals, bass, and other guitarwork, the band headed back to Studio Gröndahl in Sweden to continue work in a very relaxed atmosphere with Castillo. The "Torn Arteries" title references an old demo created by CARCASS's original drummer Ken Owen back in the 1980s. In February of 1999, Owen suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage, leaving him in a coma for over 10 months. As a result, he is unable to play the way he used to. When CARCASS reunited in 2007, the drum stool was filled by Daniel Erlandsson and later Wilding. Ken reportedly gave his approval to Walker and guitarist Bill Steer to continue with CARCASS and was supportive during the recording process of the band's 2013 comeback album "Surgical Steel". CARCASS played its first pandemic-era concert on November 6, 2021 at the Damnation Festival in Leeds, U.K.